The present invention is directed to emergency floatation devices, in general, and more particularly to emergency floatation devices used during and after emergency landings.
The use of floatation devices for buoyantly supporting an aircraft on a body of water has been prevalent for many years. Part-time and full-time fixed floatation systems have been in widespread use for many years. Some aircraft, especially helicopters, are equipped with both inflatable floatation bags and an inflatable life raft. Typically, deflated floatation bags are fixedly attached to the helicopter landing skids and packed tightly within flexible fabric covers. These floatation bags are inflated in order to support the helicopter when ditching or landing in water is anticipated. On the other hand, inflatable emergency rafts are conventionally stored inside the helicopter fuselage, which is disadvantageous for several reasons.
One disadvantage of storing the inflatable raft inside the aircraft is the amount of space that must be allocated to stow the raft. Inflatable rafts of this sort commonly take up more than six cubic feet of space when deflated. Since six cubic feet is the approximate equivalent of two extra passengers, trips to and from an offshore platform, for example, are far less efficient when an inflatable life raft is stowed within the aircraft fuselage. A further disadvantage of storing the inflatable raft inside the aircraft is that the raft must be manually expelled from the aircraft before being inflated, which wastes precious time and may be more difficult if the aircraft is damaged or the passengers are injured. Yet another disadvantage is that some on-board raft systems require significant modification of the aircraft fuselage, (e.g., additional compartment and door) which is very costly.
In view of these shortcomings, there exists a need for an inflatable emergency raft system, which is not stowed within the aircraft fuselage, requires little or no modification of the aircraft and requires minimal manual involvement during an emergency.
Any art discussed above should not be taken as an admission that the art is prior art.
One aspect of the present invention involves an emergency floatation system for attachment to a helicopter landing skid including at least one inflatable float and an inflatable emergency life raft, wherein the system is adapted to be converted from a packed configuration to a partially deployed configuration by use of a first actuating member, and wherein the system is adapted to be converted from the partially deployed configuration into a fully deployed configuration by use of a second actuating member.
A further aspect of the present invention involves an emergency floatation system for attachment to a helicopter landing skid, wherein the system is adapted to be converted from a fully deployed configuration into a packed configuration by deflating and folding at least one raft and at least one inflatable float.
Another aspect of the present invention involves an emergency floatation system for attachment to a helicopter landing skid including at least one inflatable float and an inflatable emergency life raft, wherein the at least one float is inflated using compressed Helium and the raft is inflated using compressed Nitrogen.
Yet another aspect of the present invention involves an emergency floatation system for attachment to a helicopter landing skid including a girt, at least one inflatable float and an inflatable emergency life raft, wherein the girt is attached to the landing skid, the at least one float is attached to the girt and the life raft attached to the at least one float.
A further aspect of the present invention involves an emergency floatation system for attachment to a helicopter landing skid including a girt, at least one inflatable float and an inflatable emergency life raft, wherein the at least one float is attached to the girt with a flexible float cover including two halves that are fixedly attached to the girt at one end with an adhesive and releasably attached to each other at the other end using fasteners.
Another aspect of the present invention involves an emergency floatation system for attachment to a helicopter landing skid including a girt, at least one inflatable float and an inflatable emergency life raft, wherein the life raft is attached to the at least one float with a flexible float cover including two halves that are fixedly attached to the at least one float at one end with an adhesive and releasably attached to each other at the other end using fasteners.